PRESS RELEASE FROM WAVERLEY EXCURSIONS

Waverley's proposed sailings from Oban in May have had to be postponed due to the time required to effect the repairs to her boilers.

The complete Western Isles programme has been moved to the final weekend in May - details can be found here.

Read the Official Press Release here.

If you have any questions or queries regarding bookings for the original dates please contact the Waverley Excursions office on 0845 130 4647 please do not email this site.

Waverley Work Parties - Highs & Lows

Following on from Stuart's Chairman's Blog I thought it time bring everyone up to date.

Waverley's band of enthusiastic volunteers have been working hard on everything from boiler cleaning, electric motor testing, painting and varnishing to deck caulking.

What is deck caulking some may ask? Read on.........

One of Waverley's many traditional features are her wooden decks. Made from Iroko which is sourced from West Africa, the grooves between each timber plank is filled using a cotton and pitch combination known as caulking. Without caulking the deck would not be sealed against the weather. The following photos show the basic procedures but should not be taken as the definitive lesson!!

For caulking you require:

Cotton Fibre (sometimes Cotton / Oakum) Caulking Iron Molten Pitch

As can be seen below the first stage (once the groove has been cleared of any residual pitch or dust etc) is the insertion of the cotton fibre into the groove between deck planks.

Next, the fibre is packed into the groove using the caulking iron and a suitable hammer or mallet.

With the fibre securely located in the groove you are now ready for the molten pitch.

The pitch is normally poured in using a receptacle with a long narrow spout and a large handle (to stop the heat burning your hands). In this case Waverley's deck crew have fashioned an appropriate item from an old teapot!

Finally, slowly pour the liquid into the groove covering the fibre - taking care not to overfill as this will cause it to spill onto the deck planking. This process is known as "paying". A shield was being used here as there was a bit of a wind blowing. The end result should be even application along the lenght of the deck.

So moving inside to the Lower Bar. This space is undergoing a minor refurbishment this year which is being funded by the Scottish Branch. Works include repainting with a brighter shade of paint, cleaning and "bronzing" of the portholes, refurbishment of the bronze deadlights and upgrading the AV equipment already donated by the branch in 2007.

The newly painted hull plating and "bronzed" portholes - volunteer and branch committee member Shelagh Holt is undertaking this work - Shelagh (pictured below) is no stranger to painting on the ship having painted the Upper and Lower Engine room single handed in 2005!




Volunteer Margaret Skee refurbishes one of the starboard side porthole deadlights.

The wooden frame which sits in front of the AV screen is re-stained (not with tomato juice!) to match the other wooden fittings in the bar by volunteer "Jim the Joiner"


One of the problems with the location of the LCD screen in this space has been that the volume level had to be uncomfortably high for the people sitting in front of it to allow it to be heard on the other side of the bar. To overcome this a sound system has been donated by Waverley's fireman Ian "Corky" McCorkindale. Four small speakers will be installed, one in each corner of the bar, which will allow the sound from the screen to heard without inappropriate volume levels. The wiring for these speakers will be installed in the void spaces behine the seating on either side of the bar. Trunking has been installed in these spaces - the above photo shows Yours Truly inside the void space installing this equipment. I can tell you there is not a lot of space in there!!


Improvements are also underway behind the bar - namely the installation of additional lighting to illuminate the stock more effectively. These are 12Vdc halogen fittings which are fitted to a type of parallel wire system - one wire is the +12V and the other the 0V supplies to the lamps. The wires are strung between the wooden partition at the port side end of the bar to a bracket mounted on the deckhead on the starboard side. The wires are then tensioned the fittings positioned where they are required along the lenght of the wires and then clamped to the wires via small pinch screws. This means that any lamp can be repositioned if required very easily. The photo above shows Branch Chairman Stuart Mears posing proudly beside his makeshift wire tensioning device used during installation of the wire system.

So there you have it - work continuing apace - all helping Waverley Steam Navigation Company ready the World's Last Sea-going Paddle Steamer for the 2009 season.

Finally, in case you were wondering what the Highs & Lows part of the title of this article was referring to? Well the caulking was carried out on the Aft Boat Deck - the highest passenger deck on the ship and the refurbishment works are being carried out in the Lower Bar which is the lowest passenger space on the ship!!

Erm... perhaps I should sign off now.

Cheers

Gavin Stewart

Clyde Turbine Legend Up For Sale

Queen Mary as Queen Mary II

(after changing her name to allow Cunard to use it for their new liner)

Queen Mary leaving Rothesay (btwn 1965-68 with Single Funnel)

She may not be a paddle steamer but the 1933 Denny of Dumbarton built turbine steamer Queen Mary has had a connection with our Waverley practically all her operational life - whether it be fleetmate (1948 - 1973) or in competition (1975 - 1977).

Famous for changing her name in deference to Cunard's Transatlantic Liner and withdrawn from service in 27th September 1977, Queen Mary was eventually sold in 1980 to Bass Leisure Retail, decommissioned and moved to London to become a floating pub / restaurant at Embankment on the River Thames where she has remained to date.

Due to a change of owners the old girl is now up for sale again - her future uncertain in this hard economic climate.

More details and photos are available here.

So anyone with a spare £155,000 lying around can have a 1000ton chunk of Clyde maritime history!!

Queen Mary as she is today at Embankment Pier, River Thames

Gavin Stewart

CALLING ALL MEMBERS!!!!

YOUR SHIPS NEED YOU!!!

Please see the note below from Waverley Excursions, who are looking for direct assistance from the members of The Paddle Steamer Preservation Society.

I guess some previous bar work / catering work would be helpful, though not essential.

Being smartly turned out, diligent and reliable, however, is.

As well providing much needed assistance to the ship, you will be representing the society. This year, more than ever, we must demonstrate to those who operate our ships for us that we are not merely a bunch of armchair enthusiasts who just go on and on and on and on and on and on about how marvellous it was on the Jeanie/Caledonia/Talisman (Ian!)/Bristol Queen/Ravenswood/Golden Eagle/Saint Columba/insert your own favourite here (delete according to allegiance!).

I’m sure there must be a few members out there who in fact used to serve in these capacities in years gone by aboard Waverley. So, get the rose tinted memory specs off and give it a go!

Please contact Eric Armstrong at:

Waverley Excursions Ltd,
Waverley Terminal,
36 Lancefield Quay,
Glasgow G3 8HA

Tel: 0845 130 4647

PS I’m doing a week on the Main Clyde Season, and probably a day on the Western Isles too.

Very Best Regards,

Stuart Mears

WAVERLEY EXCURSIONS LTD

VOLUNTEER JOB DESCRIPTION

Background

The company are looking for volunteers to serve in the lower bar on Waverley and Balmoral. And the Caledonian Tea Room on Waverley.

The three posts will require to be rostered to ensure that we have full cover for each of the outlets during the sailing programme in each area.

In addition to serving in the bars and tearoom it is hoped that the volunteers will interface with our customers to ensure that they have a good onboard experience. A good knowledge of the history of the ships and the local area would be an advantage.

Volunteers will not require to pay fares for the time they are on board and will be given free meals as appropriate.

Ideally those volunteering should be able to confirm their availability well in advance and it would be helpful if they were available for a reasonable period of time e.g. several days.

Once we have identified the number of volunteers who may be available, the time they each can give and have a finalised timetable we need to see how we can roster the volunteers to provide full cover. We will need to identify standby call outs to cover any unexpected call offs.

Job Description

Lower Bars.

The main role is the serving of beers wines and spirits to customers. The volunteer will normally be working alone in the bar but will have the full support of the Chief Steward. The role includes cash handling and use of the electronic till. Full training will be given.

The other role is the re stocking of the shelves / fridges, crisps etc together with clearing the tables and keeping the bar in a customer friendly condition.

From a commercial point of view the volunteer should as their interpersonal skills to increase sales wherever possible

Caledonia Tea Room.

The main role is the serving teas, coffees biscuits and confectionary to customers. The volunteer will normally be working alone in the tea room but will have the full support of the Chief Steward. The role includes cash handling and use of the electronic till. Full training will be given.

The other role is the re stocking of the shelves / fridges, crisps etc together with clearing the tables and keeping the tea room in a customer friendly condition.

From a commercial point of view the volunteer should as their interpersonal skills to increase sales wherever possible.

Waverley Painting takes pride of place in Greenock Town Hall

Artist Ted Marle's painting of Waverley in Garvel Dry Dock now hangs in Greenock Town Hall.

Read the whole article on Inverclyde Now here.

Gavin Stewart

Rails & Sails 2009 - Glasgow Museum of Transport

This weekend the branch will attend the annual Rails & Sails event held at the Glasgow Museum of Transport.

Come out of the cold and into the Museum of Transport this January and enjoy a weekend of hands-on family fun.Have a go at model boating with the Richmond Model Boat Club’s big indoor pond.Or what about a ride on the Paisley Society of Model Engineers’ miniature steam railway?There are lots of fun activities during our Rails and Sails weekend, and they are all free!

The branch stand will be upstairs near the Bicycle Area - come along and see us!!

Saturday 24 January, 10am to 4pm
Sunday 25 January 11am to 4pm

Admission is Free.

Gavin Stewart

Willing Volunteers - Chairman's Blog No 7

(Words Stuart Mears, Pics John MacFarlane & Chris Hendry)

Gavin, my Jiminy Cricket for writing articles for the Blog has been pestering…..err…..motivating me to write a wee article on winter work parties on Waverley, specifically the first party of the season which was last Saturday.
My first thought was “How would I know what went on? I spent my time inside one of the boilers!” however, here goes.

It’s a strange fact of life that whilst most people see less of their fellow Waverley nutters during the winter season, those of us who attend the winter work parties sometimes see less of each other during the summer. So, as I got out of my car at the science centre in Glasgow on a fairly dreich (look it up if you don’t know!) Saturday morning at it was good to bump into Frank and Jim who had also just arrived and I hadn’t seen since the previous winter. On making our way up the gangway onto an apparently deserted ship, after a couple of abortive attempts we found the unlocked door and made our way below decks where we could here chatter from the dining saloon. The ship was decidedly chilly as both boilers are currently shut down and opened up for survey. Sadly the noise we could hear in the distance was not that of an industrial heater but rather, an industrial vacuum being used by the team from Merkland Tank who were already beavering away in the boiler room.

A quick coffee in the dining saloon ensued whilst we all caught up and wished each other happy new year. Gordon Reid, our Chief Engineer and work party project manager then began to dole out the first jobs.

At the mention of removing some blowdown pipework from within the starboard boiler I must unconsciously have registered some degree of interest as I soon found myself cursing those Christmas Mince Pies as I lowered myself through the access point into the boiler.

Shelagh Holt soon followed and as I hammered and clanged away at one end of the Boiler, Shelagh began preparing the internal welds on the boiler shell for forthcoming Non Destructive Testing. For those of you with more sense than to have clambered into a boiler, it’s quite a strange experience. Despite being completely surrounded by the thick boiler shell plating, voices still occasionally waft their way in from outside in decidedly ghost like manner, and any hammer work results in echoing reverberations round the boiler like some strange Tibetan gong or the start of Rank Movie gone horribly wrong! And as Shelagh will testify, masks or not, the dust still gets up your nose!

Elsewhere on the ship, jobs of all shapes and sizes were getting underway. There really is always something for everyone. Feed pump valves were being lapped, furnace refractory lining was being cleaned up, doors being attended to by our volunteer carpenter, dining saloon windows being refurbished, etc etc etc etc whilst Gordon kept a watchful eye on us all.

At lunchtime we all convened in the crew mess with our various versions of a packed lunch. As is rapidly becoming a tradition, Jim brought one of his home made chocolate creations. Estimates are that it packs about 1000calories per square inch, but very very tasty at that. Strangely, it seemed even more difficult to get back into the boiler after sampling the above noted creation!
After a quick work party photograph we were back at it. Well, most of us because I had to leave in the afternoon, but I can assure you as I made my way down the gangway I could still hear the noise of volunteer industriousness, saving the company pounds by the minute.

Make no mistake about it, this year more than ever, the cost savings realised by volunteer effort are more vital than ever. At the end of the day, it’s enjoyable, rewarding, good fun in good company. So, come along and help why don’t you? You will also have the benefit of seeing some part of the ship during the summer that you worked on and quietly thinking to yourself, “I did that!” I promise you that even after nearly thirty years of doing this, that’s one particular reward that has yet to wear thin for me.

Stuart Mears

Volunteer Work Parties on Waverley

Yes, its that time of the year again - time to begin the process of getting our old ship ready to sail in 2009!

Work parties start on board Waverley at her berth adjacent to Glasgow Science Centre tomorrow at 10am. Car parking is via the Science Centre - you will be given a token at the end of the day to allow you to exit.

You dont have to be PSPS member to get involved - just turn up! See photo above......

For more details see the brief fact sheet below - please be aware that this fact sheet is a PSPS Scotland document not an official Waverley Excursions document.

We look forward to seeing you on board!!

Gavin

Membership Fees Revised for 2009

As of 1st January 2009 the Society have increased the membership rates:

Please refer to top left hand side column for the new rates. This is the first rate increase for around 10 years and is required to meet the ever increasing costs of running the society thus ensuring that we can still deliver value for money!

2009 is the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the PSPS and is also the 40th Anniversary of the creation of the Scottish Branch so there is a lot to celebrate this year.

Watch this space!!!

Happy New Year to all

Here's hoping that 2009 will bring some much needed sunshine and great passenger numbers to support the continued operation of our favourite ships.




A festive paddle steamer shot from Lake Lucerne with Santa climbing into the paddlebox of the former paddle steamer Wilhelm Tell which is now operated as a static restaurant.

Charles McCrossan